Gratitude October 2019

Thank you Lord for this day. Thank you for the warmth of the blankets, the bed, the dreams, the wakening. Thank you for the indoor plumbing and running water. Thank you for the Ethiopian coffee, the Canadian cream and Okanagan honey. Thank you for the local yoghurt and the Nature Valley Almond bars. Thank you for Gilbert. He snuggled up to me as I sat on the Turkish camel hair rug in preparation for prayer and meditation. Thank you for the African incense.

Thank you pre dawn darkness and the gently lightening sky. Thank you for the breath. Thank you the Lord’s Prayer. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for the Gospel. Thank you for Salvation. Thank you for the promise and the history. Thank you for religion which holds the spirituality and saves it for the world when the world no longer cares for the spiritual. Thank you for the church which is the library for the soul. Thank you for the celebration. Thank you for the feast. Thank you for sacrifice and discipline and character. Thank you for Love. Without love where would we be now.

Thank you for Israel the birthplace of our lord. Thank you for the Christian diaspora and the spread of the world religion to all the world.  Thank you for the invitation to worship. Thank you for the dance. Thank you for St. Theresa, Brother Lawrence, Merton, C.S.Lewis, St. John of the Cross, Rev. Carl Ridd, Father John, Father Mark, Father Peter and Emile.  Thank you for all the guides and teachers. Thank you for James Houston. Thank you for my friend Dr. John. Thank you for the present and deceased.

Thank you for the meditation, St. Augustine, Yoganadana,  Herbert Benson, all the teachers of mindfulness and breathing. Thank you for the attention of the waiting, the patience and stillness. BE STill and Know that I am God.  Thank you for Autobiography of a Yogi. Thank you for Tao. Thank you for the 8 fold path. Thank you for India and thank you for China before the barbarian communists destroyed intelligence and genius in that once great and deep land. Thank you for Tibet. Thank you for Scotland. Thank you for Ireland. Thank you for Brazil and Chile. Thank you for Saipan. Thank you for the oceans and sailing. Thank you for the open road.

Thank you for Gilbert who brings me a yellow squeaky ball knowing I’ll want to play once I’ve done the morning exercises and stretches. Thank you Lord that I can still kneel and stand. Thank you for the movement in my body and that minimum of pain. I pray for my knee and the traumatic arthritis which my grandmother would have shook off as just rheumatism.  Thank you for my grandparents, their stoic examples and their laughter. Thank you for history.

Thank you for Apple. Thank you for Ipad. Thank you for Kodak. Thank you for Paul Simon and Leonard Cohen. Thank you for photographs and the new IPhone camera.  Thank you for my Mini car. Thank you for reliability.  Thank you for the sunshine now. Thank you for the rain and change. Thank you for the blessings. Thank you for the groups and work. Thank you for the co workers and colleagues and the lovely caring community I work in. Thank you for the training and my teachers. Thank you for all the times I’ve been of service.

Thank you Lord for all of this and so much more.  May I know you better today. May I see you, feel you, smell you, hear you. May I intuit your presence in all my moments today.  May I know you more fully, more deeply. Thy will be done, not my will.  Guide me. Show me. Lead me. Quo Vadis.